Have No Doubt: Volunteer Opportunities Abound at Second Harvest Heartland

With so many opportunities, you might have concerns about picking the one that really fits your talents, schedule and commitment. Here are three doubts we know give pause to even the best would-be volunteers:

Doubt 1: I can’t make an ongoing commitment

We know that our volunteers are busy students, professionals and parents (sometimes all three in one!) with plenty of other commitments. We truly appreciate your time, and invite you to volunteer with us whenever it’s convenient for you. When you sign up for any of the shifts on our convenient online calendar, there’s no expectation to sign up for a weekly, monthly or any sort of ongoing commitment. Even if you can only volunteer once, your time will provide one person enough to eat for a full month!

Doubt 2: Some of the shifts have room for 100 people, but I can only bring five

Although we welcome groups of up to 100, individual volunteers and small groups make up most of the shifts at Second Harvest Heartland. Your group doesn’t need to fill the entire shift—you can leave that to us. Besides, half the fun of a shift at Second Harvest Heartland is working alongside your neighbors and learning about the many families, teams, companies, school and faith groups that come together to support our mission to end hunger. And every contribution adds up: last year, 27,000 volunteers gave nearly 130,000 hours of their time!

Doubt 3: I feel like packing food will make the biggest difference, but that’s not what I want to do

Every volunteer’s contribution to Second Harvest Heartland is valuable. Many volunteers provide vital help without ever setting foot in the warehouse. So before you start feeling guilty that food sorting just doesn’t do it for you, try something else! There are plenty of one-time opportunities to get involved at fundraising events, Meals for Minds distributions and off-site food drives.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities or to sign up for a volunteer shift, visit 2harvest.org/volunteer.